Advice on C34 (Hull 440, 1987) rudder replacement

[garryg24]

Had an unfortunate incident involving jetty rocks at Haleolono Harbor on the island of Molokai, Hawaii.  Need a replacement rudder.  Any ideas?  Catalina will build me a new one for $1170 which is probably the best way to go, but am open for advice.  The hull took a beating but stood up very well!

[dave davis]

Sorry to hear about your crunch...If your post is in good shape, not bent that is, you can get a replacemrnt rebuild for 702 plus washer, tiller cap and tax for 818. This is for a fin keel.

[mhazlett]

Gary-- We looked around in February at options to replace the rudder when we had a lot of water again at haulout at Ala Wai Marine. Wound up fixing it but found that Catalina's prices were a bargain--one-third or less having one custom built. Cost of shipping the rudder post from Hawaii to Woodland Hills and loss of use of the boat made buying the new rudder make sense until we did the repairs. I was also told time for doing the rudder varies a lot depending on backlog. I also found my tiller cap was badly cracked on the inside when I took it off the post and might not have held an emergency tiller long. You might want to check that also. Replacement cap was cheap and got in two days.  Impressed you made it back across Molokai channel with a bad rudder.

[garryg24]

Thanks for advice.  Nice to hear from you Mark.  Catalina has a new rudder on their dock ready for shipment as soon as I get them connected with the insurance (thank god!) company Monday.  Post was bent.  Boat was towed across channel and is on the hard at Keehi.  That hull took a beating on the crunch and stood up extremely well.  When the repairs are complete, I'm going to write a nice, long letter of praise to Catalina.

The busted rudder is out which was no easy task.  It had been installed to last 100 years.